NEW YORK—VM’s Most Influential Women in Optical report is, first and foremost, our annual celebration of the immeasurable impact that women have on all levels of our industry. Just look around and you’ll find women of all ages and backgrounds who use their knowledge and skills to build and lead optical businesses and eyecare practices while enriching the lives of their customers, patients, students and colleagues. These are the types of women, including entrepreneurs, clinicians, executives, managers and mentors, whom we honor each year for their vast and varied contributions. They’re smart, creative, hardworking and caring, and they inspire us to be better at what we do. We’ve profiled more than 600 of them since we began compiling this report in 2003.

The Most Influential Women feature is also a great example of the democratic process at work. Our readers send us hundreds of nominations each year. Some are the result of lobbying by friends and co-workers, and others are single ballots cast by individual nominators. From this long list of names put into contention, VM editors select the 40 women they feel are most deserving of recognition. We determine which category best fits them—Executive Suite, Rising Stars, Mentors and Innovators—based upon their accomplishments and contributions to the optical industry. So, our system is also a meritocracy.

However you view them, this year’s Most Influential Women are an impressive group. We hope you enjoy reading their profiles and getting to know them.